Warren Buffett Quotes on Hard Work

Warren Buffett quotes on hard work. If you want to become the world’s number one investor, there is no substitute for hard work.

Here is one of my favorite quotes on Warren Buffett: “By the age of 10, I’d read every book in the Omaha Public Library with the word finance in the title – some twice.”

This quote suggests that it was more than raw intelligence that got Warren Buffett to where he is today. Rather, it is the habit of continuous learning that he has developed that has gotten him so far. Buffett was very hardworking as a kid and very much wanted to learn everything he could about finance and the stock market. Charlie Munger once described Warren Buffett as a ‘learning machine’, and noted that if you observe Warren Buffett during the day, you will realize that half his time is spent ‘sitting on his ass and reading’.

Roger Lowenstein’s book on Warren Buffett describes how Buffett knew almost every balance sheet on the New York Stock Exchange. Beyond reading every business book that was available, Buffett also spent a lot of time poring over actuarial tables, reading heavy Moody’s manuals page by page, searching for companies that were on sale by Mr. Market that day.

Warren Buffett applied the same zest and hard work to his paper route. He peddled subscriptions and kept track of when each of his customers’ subscriptions expired, so he knows when to ask for new business.

Buffett’s love of reading makes it not seem like hard work to him. In fact, he often comments about how he loves his job so much that he tap dances to work every day. This love of reading is a common trait among many highly successful investors. Charlie Munger has frequently cited his own love of reading; Ron Perelman noted in an interview that he reads 10 financial reports a week.